Yoko Ono may be a household name, but most only know her as the artist wife of the late Beatle, John Lennon.
The exhibit that opens Saturday, May 23 at the Broad museum could change that for those willing to trek to downtown Los Angeles.
This retrospective of Ono’s work as an artist, peace activist and musician over the past seven decades marks the first time that her solo pieces have been shown in Southern California. Ono, who is 93 and lives in New York, no longer travels and is not expected to attend the show.
“Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” is scheduled to run through Oct. 11 at the Broad. Tickets for the exhibition are on sale now. The Broad’s main galleries are always free.
Ono was already a well-known conceptual artist from Japan when she met Lennon. While she continued to work, their marriage and his fame ultimately eclipsed her solo art career.
“The truth is she was an established figure in the art world long before meeting John Lennon,” founding director of the Broad, Joanne Heyler, told a press gathering on Thursday, May 21.
Ono was perhaps best known for her “instructional” art, beginning in the 1950s, which consists of giving viewers instructions about how to make art for themselves. People must directly participate to share the experience, such as Painting to Hammer a Nail (1961/1966), which involves hammering a nail into a blank wall.
“The viewer completes the painting either literally or in the mind,” Sarah Loyer, Curator and Exhibitions Manager, said.
For example, her famous 1964 book, “Grapefruit,” involves a series of short typed instructions on different pages, telling the reader to do various things, such as “Draw a map to get lost.”
The Broad exhibition includes portions of these works and others, such as short videos she made.
In arguably her most famous performance, called “Cut Piece,” she sat on a Carnegie Hall stage motionless in 1964 and invited viewers to come up and cut off pieces of her clothing. The Broad exhibit includes a video of the original event, and will also restage it July 18 and 19 with the performance artist MPA at REDCAT, along with another performance piece, Sky Piece to Jesus Christ.
The Broad exhibit extends into the courtyard outside the museum, where olive trees have become Wish Trees for Los Angeles (1996/2026). Here, daily while the museum is open, visitors are invited to write their own wishes and tie them to a branch of one of the trees.
The Broad is also displaying a series of billboards devoted to peace as part of the exhibit, along with other performances and live music. The exhibit is organized in collaboration with Tate Modern museum in London.
Born in 1933, Ono’s lifelong anti-war campaign likely started during World War II, when she was evacuated from Tokyo to the countryside, as were other children. In 1956, she moved to New York City and joined its fledgling avant-garde art community.
She met Lennon in 1966, at her cutting-edge show, “Unfinished Paintings and Objects,” in London’s Indica Gallery.
Lennon, who had attended art school himself, later recalled climbing a ladder to look through a magnifying glass to find the word “YES” on the ceiling. He also argued with Ono about whether he could drive a nail into her blank canvas. They were married in Gilbraltar in 1969 — nuptials that were immortalized in the Beatles’ song “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”
Both of these artworks are reproduced in the Broad exhibit for newer visitors to experience, along with a chessboard where all the pieces are painted white.
While the focus in this exhibit is mostly on Ono’s work, it does include examples of her later collaborations with Lennon, include a film of their Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, other staged peace events and recordings of their music together.
‘Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind’
Where: The Broad, 221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
When: Through Oct. 11; the museum is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.mm-8 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends. The Broad is closed on Mondays.
Suitability: The exhibit contains nudity.
Tickets: $21; free on Thursdays with advance tickets
Information: thebroad.org/art/special-exhibitions/yoko-ono-music-mind